Moapa Class Teaches Golf Skills To Youth

Recreation Specialist Gail Lindsay teaches Braden Boss how to putt a golf ball, while the other’s wait for their turn. PHOTO BY MYRNA FOSTER/Moapa Valley Progress.

Cloud cover and a breeze made the outdoor temperature at 8:15 am just perfect for golfing on Tuesday, July 15.

This is the fifth year Moapa resident Gail Lindsay has taught a golf class for children between the ages of six and twelve. The Clark County Parks and Recreation (CCPR) golf class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Moapa Rec Center. Lindsay said there are six kids in the class and that they’re all pretty young this year.

As the Clark County Recreation Specialist for Moapa and Bunkerville, Lindsay has to come up with different classes to meet the needs of both communities. She enjoys golfing with her husband, so when she needed another summer class, she added golf. She said the turn out has been good every year.

Lindsay said that some of the kids bring their own clubs, but others don’t have any. Last year, she searched yard sales and Deseret Industries stores until she found three sets of kids’ golf clubs.

She sends a golf club and balls home with the ones who don’t have their own equipment so that they can practice. Lindsay said that practice is everything at this age.

Lindsay said that most of the parents of the students golf.

Moapa resident Adam Smith was there on Tuesday to give his son more one-on-one instruction. Smith said he used to work out at the Coyote Springs Golf Course, and he has helped Lindsay with the class in the past.

Because her students are so young, Lindsay said they focus on basic fundamentals. They learn about the clubs and how to hold them. She had them practice their stance and showed them how to swing.

Outside, the young golfers lined up five golf balls and hit them out toward butterfly and Easter egg lawn decorations. Then, all together, they’d put down their clubs and go out to collect their balls. Each of them had a bucket to put the balls in.

Lindsay said, “Usually we only come out for 15 – 20 minutes. Then we go in to practice our putt. But when the weather’s this nice, we stay out as long as we can.” They did finish up by practicing their putt for the last 10 -15 minutes.

Logandale resident Rorie Boss said of Lindsay: “She’s really good with the kids.” Boss’s son Joey took the class for two years before moving on to another instructor, and his little brother Braden couldn’t wait to take it as well. This is Braden’s first year, and his mother said that he loves it.